The DEX post

Decentralised exchanges (DEXes) are important for everyone to know about, and one day, you may have to interact with one in order to pick up some native token or another, that has some use or value within a particular blockchain ecosystem.

DEX offer a much more secure, direct solution for crypto-trading, in that tokens are kept safely in wallets. Smart contracts operate the exchange of funds. DEX’s will arrive to dramatically reduce incidents of hacking, although not human error.

In many cases DEX’s can be accessed easily via browser extensions such as MetaMask, Scatter (EOS) etc, depending on the blockchain. The trouble right now is that many of the interfaces are not very intuitive, but this looks set to improve.

This post is a round-up of major DEX options, many of which have security or utility tokens whose value could rise if their native exchanges prove to be popular.

Some of these tokens provide opportunities for passive income via staking or a share in the exchange profits.

DEXes are worth using where possible, as they will bring low-cost peer-to-peer transactions, instant token swaps, increased security and progress to the cryptocurrency space.

The other notable trend regarding the more major exchanges like Binance and KuCoin is their IEO offerings (Initial Exchange Offerings) which highlight promising new crypto projects. With their marketing power, and exclusive launch, they can potentially raise funds incredibly quickly for a particular token project. Investors getting in on these offerings are able to get these tokens at early prices, and this has seen the value of native tokens KCS and BNB see huge rises also, since you may be required to hold a certain quantity of native exchange token to partake.

Binance DEX

This uses Binance Chain, its own blockchain that is now live and should quickly develop to become an important presence across the space, due to Binance’s massive muscle-power and project connections. Binance has plans to involve the community in the running of it, and to give users what they want at no expense, eg. intuitive UI, high-speeds and security. Binance has enough revenue to make the chain state-of-the-art, and more cross-chain ultimately.

Will it take over from its centralised one? One day perhaps, especially if there is ever a security issue at the familiar exchange, of which there have been some in the past. But it’s likely that both options will be available to traders for some time to come, to suit demand.

And of course the BNB token will be used as the gas on this new exchange, as well as for continued fee discount at the centralised version. Hence its huge increase in value here in 2019.

NASH and NEX token

The Nash dex on NEO looks to combine potent, exciting features not seen yet on many DEXes. This includes both fiat on and off-ramps, Ethereum and NEO tokens (to begin with) and opportunities for staking NEX tokens to support the exchange. It currently has a referral competition for sign-up. This is my referral link. It gets underway in June 2019.

It faces two major challenges, as do most: whether it can capture enough volume, and outdo potential dex competitors, of which there are quite a few emerging.

IDEX

IDEX is an Ethereum and ERC20 token exchange, of which there are many, but this one I’ve used myself with relative ease.

Launched in 2012 and is part of the Aurora project, a collection of Ethereum applications and protocols that make up a decentralized banking and finance platform. Launched by Republic of Panama-Aurora Labs S.A. and a group of crypto enthusiasts, it offers Ethereum and ERC20 token trading pairs. It offers Ledger Nano S and Meta Mask Wallet integration especially for fund management.

It uses smart contracts to facilitate transactions between users and it updates account balances and order books in real time. This happens while it manages flow of transactions of network transactions to reduce friction.

The off-chain structure manages the trading experience and smart contract controls the funds, trade authorization, and final settlement. It provides users with the ability to do limit and market orders, gas-free cancels and the ability to fill many trades at once.

Altcoin.io

Altcoin.io, a plasma-based sidechain DEX, is a marketplace for selling and buying altcoins “with transparency, trust, and honesty.”

The platform provides an atomic swap wallet. When a user places a trade, the trade is transmitted through the network to find a person willing to trade by that offer. Once found, the trade is executed in a minute thanks to atomic swap, which was released in early 2018.

It also features social trading area that allows traders to copy trades for a fee, share and view trading stats, and help new traders to learn from the best.

StellarX Dex

StellarX Dex operates on the Stellar blockchain platform and allows to trade a range of assets including cryptocurrencies from multiple blockchains, using stellar lumens (XLM) as the base currency. This is interesting as it means it operates like a cross-blockchain DEX unlike most of DEXes which are single-blockchain DEXes.

However, although one can trade BCH, BTC, USD, ETH, non-native assets such as ETH are represented as ‘tethers.’ Thus, anyone buying Bitcoin Cash or Ethereum on StellarX is actually buying a Stellar-issued token that represents that particular crypto. Tokens are either listed as “fiat tethers”, “crypto tethers” or “native tokens.”

BitShares

For a better breakdown of BitShares decentralised platform, featuring its BitShares DEX (‘the original dex’) see this page.

Waves

Waves DEX was launched in 2016 and is built Waves blockchain. The project is based in Moscow and led by founder and CEO Sasha Ivanov.

The platform provides best of centralized and decentralized worlds on blockchain and accelerates the token exchanging process by using a centralized matching service. Remember Waves allows anyone holding Waves tokens to launch their own digital token in less than a minute and to trade it for fiat and crypto assets.

Newdex.io

Built on the NEO platform, Newdex.io will list all token balances and their worth in EOS.

You trade from your wallet directly without the need to register, deposit or withdraw.

It operates on the EOS main chain although matching is carried out off-chain and settlement is done on-chain. There is a trading fee of 0.1% applied although some tokens can still be traded for free and also people can trade airdrops in their wallets.

NXT

NXT is a DEX based on the NXT blockchain platform and allows users to issue token assets (tokenized assets are tokens representing a digital asset, physical asset such as precious metals etc, or cryptocurrency) based on NXT coin and trade these assets in exchange of NXT coin.

The platform can also be used for and in other applications of tokenization such as tokenization of private equities, public equities, bonds, derivatives, commodities, voting rights, vouchers, coupons, copyrights, patents, trademarks, and licenses such as music licenses.

This platform allows users to deposit other tokens and cryptocurrencies generated outside of NXT platform including Bitcoin, Litecoin and Eth.

DEXEOS

a DEX built on EOS blockchain and uses EOS Smart Contracts and trading tokens issued on the platform is instant. It was actually launched on August of 2018 as the first DEX to begin trading on EOS platform. The international collaboration project between Swedish, Hong Kong (China) and South Korean teams, is now fully functional: the DEX currently has around 27,320 users and manages a 24hr volume of around 98,963 EOS.

EOSFINEX

EOSDAQ

EOSDAQ is an on-chain DEX, supporting fast and safe trading of EOS native tokens. All transactions are executed on the EOS blockchain, which guarantees transparency and security.EOSDAQ strives to contribute to forming a strong EOS ecosystem by consistently providing liquidity and lowering the risk of hacking or theft.

April 2019

Note: I’m still learning about DEX and the various options available. Not professional advice. This post represents my own personal reference, so may see future updates where I encounter new information. Please let me know of any you’d recommend.